Ancient wizards
The ancient wizards, or the Wizards of the Wild Magic, are a group of characters in ''Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders''. They are introduced as a concept in "Revenge of the Dark Stone" and play a larger role in the show's second season. The ancient wizard [[Morgana|'Morgana']] is the main antagonist during the second season, when the forces of both good and evil are searching for their long-lost Wizard Jewels. Other named wizards that appear are Derek, Mallory, Ronan, and Tiberius. Two episodes take place in the former Hall of Wizards and a few more feature Morgana's lair. "Time is running out. Shortly, Merlin expects us in the Friendship Ring to bind us all together to the good of Avalon. He will not prevail! The Friendship Ring is the most magical place in Avalon. We will turn that magic against Merlin with my Dark Stone. Merlin will be destroyed!" Background |220x220px]] They have been once the Great Wizards, a society of manyWizard's Peak (script) wizards led by their queen, Morgana the enchantress. Unknown to the good great wizard Merlin, they have began studying magic for dark purposes, living in their wizard lairs in various magical realms and meeting in the Hall of Wizards in the most magical of these, Avalon. having fallen into trap in the Jungle's wizard lair in "Mystery Island"|left|417x417px]] But many generations ago, they were all defeated and banished from Avalon to the hidden dimension of the Wild Magic by the Merlin after conspiring to destroy him during the Circle of Friendship ceremony. The ancient wizards had their own magic jewels, called the Wizard Jewels—without them, they became part of the wild magic itself. Their jewels are now hidden in their former lairs all though Avalon and beyond, protected by magical traps. Members and the ghosts of Mallory (right) and Tiberius (center) reacting to the Staff of Avalon in "The One Jewel"]] Morgana is brought back to life when she is reunited with her Dark Stone in the titular episode "Morgana" at the start of the show's second season. One of the wizards, Derek, is featured in the episode "The Fortune Jewel". Four others, including Mallory and Tiberius, as well as possibly Ronan (the former owner of the Time Stone, whose lair is visited in "Mystery Island"), briefly return as ghosts in the final episode "The One Jewel" ("The Last Dance"). The seventh ancient wizard (given that there are seven Wizard Jewels including the Dark Stone for Morgana) is never seen, remaining unnamed along with the fourth wizard ghost. Derek "|left]] Derek has been the holder of the Fortune Jewel. After the final battle between Merlin and Morgana in ancient times, he too was blasted into the Wild Magic with the other evil wizards without his jewel. (According to Derek, Morgana had tricked him.) Over time, Derek’s Wizard Jewel has become partially tuned to the old fortune teller named Ezmerelda. Derek turned into a talking cat (orange colored, but originally written as blackThe Fortune Jewel (script)), but has retained some of his magic. In "The Fortune Jewel", the reformed Derek keeps his titular jewel out of the evil Lady Kale's hands and protects Ezmeralda from Kale's magic and then saves the shrunken girls from her dweasels. It is then revealed Merlin found Derek in the Wild Magic and sent him back to Avalon with his old jewel to give it over the Jewel Riders as a sign of his friendship. When Derek needs to make a choice to either aid the Jewel Riders to help save Merlin and defeat Kale and Morgana, or to help Morgana like he did in the old days, he decides to help the Jewel Rider, believing his only real hope to turn back into his true form is with Merlin. Mallory being discovered in "The Wizard of Gardenia"]] Mallory was the owner of the Garden Stone, the Wizard Jewel of Gardenia. His lair in Gardenia with a tree-castle and enchanted hedges is featured in "The Wizard of Gardenia" (along with Mallory's statue, showing him "with a crazy smile"The Wizard of Gardenia (script)) and later revisited in the last episode, "The One Jewel". A gnome named Chance claims to be his former apprentice, while Morgana says Mallory was an especially clever wizard. Mallory and Tiberius are the only ones mentioned by name in script for the show's final episode,The Last Dance (script) when they and two other evil wizards appear in their ghostly forms to again challenge Merlin (unlike the other wizards, Mallory does not appear to have elf-like ears). But they do not have any powers anymore and so they fully submit to Morgana (after briefly trying to wrestle their jewels from her), and all of them are wiped out completely by Merlin when he wins again. Morgana "]]The mysterious, cruel, and seemingly eternally young Morgana was once the Queen of the Wild Magic and a leader of the ancient wizards. Introduced in "Revenge of the Dark Stone", she first appears in person in the titular episode "Morgana" as she and Kale make a deal to work together against the Jewel Riders. During the second season, Morgana hopes to find the Wizard Jewels so she can get her vengeance upon Merlin and finally conquer Avalon. In the end, after her near-triumph, Morgana is defeated by Merlin as she and the summoned ghosts of other evil wizards are done away completely by the ultimate power of the One Jewel. Behind the scenes The ancient wizards did not exist in the original pre-production materials including the history of Avalon and were only created later. Mallory's name seems to be a homage to Thomas Malory, a medieval English author (and notorious criminal) known for his work to compile the Arthurian myths that served as a loose inspiration for the show. These legends included that of the sorceress Morgan le Fay, also known as Morgana. The wizards (and perhaps Mallory in particular) later in turn inspired the character of the sorcerer Tangoo in Avalon: Web of Magic. There are also warlocks in the series, as are actually wizards, but they are different there (defined as "a person, male or female, who is especially skilled in broad fields of magical activity and usually mentor and teach mages about magic. Wizards do not need jewels or magical animals although both always help make lasting and strong magic"What's What | Avalon Web of Magic). See also * List of characters References Category:Ancient wizards Category:Groups Category:Non-humans Category:Male characters Category:Female characters Category:Evil characters Category:Second season